Hiei's Jewels
by einstinette
Summary: Yusuke plans a little party at his house and invites all of the gang. What type of mayhem will ensue? Read to find out. Read to understand, because I'm not good at summaries.


Chapter 1

Hiei's Jewels

_(Hiruseki Stones)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yuyu Hakusho. Trust me, if I did then there would be more pairings._

_Setting: This is set somewhere after the Dark tournament, but before the 'Territory' episodes._

Third Person POV:

"Must I attend this trivial gathering?" the diminutive fire demon asked his closest friend and ally who was walking beside him.

The tall, red-headed man chuckled slightly. "You don't have to, but know that both our friends and I would be very upset if you didn't."

"I don't have friends," Hiei said, though he knew that he was lying. "The oaf, the detective, and the rest mean nothing to me."

Kurama sighed. Hiei could be so... difficult at times. Especially when people were involved. "Do not say things that you don't mean," he admonished. "You care for them all. Even Kuwabara."

"I'll admit no such thing," he replied.

"You don't have to. But we'll be there in a few minutes, and I'd prefer it if you could be civil for tonight's celebration."

"Hn," Hiei grunted, not making any comment. However, Kurama took this to mean that he was going to at least try to be pleasant.

The rest of their short walk was rather quiet. Within five minutes, they were turning up a street and walking up the stairs to, their friend, Yusuke Urameshi's relatively small apartment.

"You may as well knock on the door," Hiei murmed.

Kurama shook his head at his closest friend's stubborness. The man wouldn't pour water on himself if he was on fire if he thought that it would hurt his pride. However, he knew that they would be out here for an eternity if he waited for Hiei to knock. So, he did the honors.

Kurama's sensitive ears could hear laughter and footsteps approaching the door. Sure enough, the door swung open to reveal a tall man with dishevealed black hair, that was gelled into a messy disarray. He was shirtless and showed off his lean musculature. "C'mon in, guys," he said, adjusting his skinny blue jeans on his even skinnier waist. "Glad you could make it."

"We wouldn't have missed it for the world, right Hiei?" Kurama asked, elbowing his friend.

"Hn," Hiei groaned.

Yusuke led his friends into his living room where another red-headed male was all ready stretched out on the couch. "Hello, Kuwabara," Kurama smiled warmly.

"S'up Kurama. Where's Shorty, thought he'd be taggin' along behind you as usual."

"I'm right here, you idiot," Hiei said with his usual kind nature.

"Geez, sorry Shorty. Guess I couldn't see you behind Kurama like that," Kuwabara shrugged. Tact had never been his strong point, and it certainly wasn't now.

"Perhaps if you had enough common sense to look with your spirit energy instead of your eyes," He replied coldly. "Oh, but you don't have your powers do you?"

"URAMESHI! YOU TOLD HIM?" Kuwabara screamed, blushing in frustration.

Yususke just rolled his eyes. Honestly, by now you think Kuwabara would have learned that he was just not scary. At all. No, if you wanted to see scary, just make Keiko mad. Yusuke shuddered at the very thought. "No, I told Kurama. He must have told Hiei."

Kuwabara then turned his glare on his red-headed friend. Kurama grinned nervously and put up his hands defensively. "I was just... keeping him... informed."

Kuwabara just 'hmphed' and started murmering to himself. For some reason unbeknownst to him, he could never stay mad at the fox demon. However, he could take all of his frustrations out on a certain fire demon.

"Enough," Hiei said as if he could read the red-head's thoughts. "I did not come here to argue with the fool."

"Fair enough," Yusuke shrugged from his place on the couch. "Why did you come, anyway?"

The truth was, because Kurama had begged him. The fox was quite intelligent and knew just how to use the 'face' to get the fire demon to do as he wished. Of course, Hiei would never reveal the extent of the power that Kurama has over him. It would definitlely only serve to inflate the fox's ego and give the simpletons black-mail. Noo, his way was much better. "I was promised free food."

Yususke and Kurama chuckled at their diminutive friend. They were both well aware of the fact that it was more than food that attracted him to the apartment that night. Though, Yusuke knows when it's time to play along. "There's plenty of pizza in there. Not to mention ice cream in the fridge and a ton of sodas."

"Hn," he groaned and without further ado, went off into the kitchen to pilfer some food. Sure, food wasn't the main reason that he was there, but it was a very good incentive.

"Urameshi, there's nothing on tv. Now what are we going to do?" Kuwabara groaned, rubbing his hair though not mussing it in the slightest.

"Chill, Kuwabara, my mom left us some video's to watch and I'm sure that they'll be entertaining," he smirked in a way that let everyone know that he was up to no good. Though, if one didn't get that by the time that they saw his street clothes, and scowling face then they probably weren't very intelligent in the first place.

"What kind of video?" the larger human asked excitedly. "I hope it's about cats!"

"You could say that," the smaller human chuckled at a joke that he thought he knew the punchline to. Do, of course, that's when he hit the brick wall.

"Pornography? Really, Yusuke?" the fox demon asked, trying to hide his smirk.

"PORN? You were trying to get us to watch porn?" the red head demanded, shocked at Urameshi's nerve. He would never have the guts to do something like that around Shizuru. Goodness knows, it would probably be the last thing that he ever did.

"Yeah, so?" The incorrigible teen asked, not seeing what the 'big deal' was. "It was just a movie."

"Just a movie? Just a movie?" he ranted. "What would Keiko say?"

All though nothing else that he might have said would have gotten him to listen, that one word did. Keiko. She could make him do any and every thing. And to be honest, she was one of the only people that he somewhat listened to and for a long time she was the only one that cared for him.

Though, Yususke sometimes had problems seeing things like this. Kurama often found it easy to play mediator, and felt that it was his duty to intervene. "Speaking of Keiko, where are the other ladies tonight?"

"Ahh, they're at Keiko's doing make-up or painting toenails or something," the spirit detective shrugged. Give him demons or monsters to fight, but do not ask him to explain the complexities of females. Solving the unsolvable was more along Kurama's lines anyway.

"Ahh, and who else is there?" Kurama was asking the questions, but he wasn't really very concerned about their answer. No, he was trying to think of a way to get Hiei out of the kitchen and into socializing. And of course, a brilliant plan formed in his mind to accomplish just that.

"The usual. Botan, Shizuru, and..." just as he was about to say the last name, he was cut off.

"And last but definitely not least, my sweet and beautiful Yukina," Kuwabara swayed as he thought of the beautiful ice maiden and her kind, healing nature.

"Ahh yes, Yukina. How is she doing?"

"She says that she's doin' okay, but she still can't find her brother," Kuwabara rattled on, though no one was really paying him any attention. Hiei's head had popped out of the kitchen at the word 'brother' and he decided to make his presence known. He entered back into the living room carrying a tub of chocolate ice cream.

Kurama grinned. The fire demon had fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. By this time even, the sometimes stupid spirit detective had caught on. "Oh really, are there any leads?" Kurama inquired, secretly grinning at his friend's discomfort. One could call it revenge for making him beg.

"Nah, but she's heart broken about it. Apparently, she really wants to meet the guy," the oblivious teen blathered on, completely unaware of the problems that he was causing.

Hiei's face clenched in pain. As much as he hated to admit it, he really wanted to tell his sister who he was. But if she knew then she would turn away from him. He had done some unspeakable deeds. He had pillaged, burned things to the ground, and killed. And at the time, he had enjoyed it. On the other hand, Yukina was sweet, kind, gentle, and loving. How could she ever be proud of a brother like him?

"Oh, ya' don't say?" Yusuke grinned, glancing at Hiei but not seeing the pain in his eyes. "Hiei, what do you think about that?" Kurama was in the background trying to shake his head to warn the fool hardy detective. Unfortunately, Yusuke was too involved in what he was doing. Namely, torturing his friend.

Thankfully, the fire demon was spared from answering by his favorite fool. Unfortunately, the fool had nothing nice to say. "What're you askin' him for? If he wanted to help then he'd take that band-aid off and use that freaky third eye of his to help someone for once."

"Pardon me if I don't see the need of being noble all of the time," he replied snarkily.

"You only think of yourself," Kuwabara snorted in disgust. There were times when he almost seemed to like the little guy, but then he would do or say something so... demonic. Honestly, he felt a little sorry for the guy. He had no friends except for their group and they had only came into his life in the past year or so. He could only imagine how unbearable life had been before that.

"Yes, I look out for number one," Hiei smirked, silently thinking that number one was not who everyone thought that it would be. No, number one was Yukina and she always would be.

Kurama could feel the tension in the room slowly inching upwards. Something had to be done. "Hiei, ice cream is dripping all over the floor... and your foot," he said.

The fire demon glanced down to see that there was indeed chocolate ice cream dripping down unto his shoe. There was also a large, brown puddle on the pine wood floor.

"Aw come on Hiei," Urameshi groaned. "Now I gotta clean it up.," Hiei just shrugged. It wasn't his floor and it wasn't his problem.

The kitsune shook his red head. Honestly, these two could be so immature sometimes. So once again, he would step in and keep everything calm. "I'll clean it," he volunteered. He went into the kitchen, gathered a rag, and wet it with warm water. Then, he got on his knees on the floor next to the spot and scrubbed it vigorously. A few minutes later, it was clean and sparkly.

"Whoa, you even got through the layer of dust," Yusuke marveled. Even he had never been able to do that. "You should go ahead and do the whole floor."

"No thank you," Kurama repled, casually turning down the offer. "I'd much rather not."

"Hey guys, we've had enough of the domesticity around here. Why don't we do something?" Kuwabara demanded.

The spirit detective chuckled and jumped over the couch to land in his place next to Kuwabara. "Cool, we'll watch a movie on pay-per-view," he grinned excitedly, knowing that his mom was going to hate having to pay for it. Ha!

"As long as it's not a nudey movie, I don't have any problems with it," Kuwabara shrugged. As everyone knows, he would go through hell fire as long as Yusuke was leading him. Hell, he had just fought a large number of demons in a life or death tournament. So, he had few qualms about choosing a movie.

aww, you're no fun," Urameshi whined. Though everyone present knew that he wouldn't seriously watch the movie because of how he felt for Keiko. Of course that didn't stop him from pretending to be the 'super-punk bad boy'.

Urameshi flipped through the pay-per-view menu until he finally found a movie that satisfied him. He selected it and watched as the title sequence played. "Hey Kurama, would you grab the food, if Hiei left any?"

Kurama sighed. In another time, he would have never sunk to doing things that were so lowly. Yet Yusuke was so... charasmatic. Not only that. He was also the fox's close friend and had saved his life on numerous occasions. So, he swallowed his pride, went into the kitchen and saw three large pizza boxs on the counter. That was along with the large assortmet of soft drinks and dessert items. Yes, Kurama was strong,he could not carry all of those things at once.

"I suppose you're lucky that I chose to come and assist you," Hiei commented from a shadowy corner of the kitchen.

"Yes, I suppose I am lucky," the fox demon smirked. "Though, I think the food was part of your incentive."

"OF course, and I won't pretend otherwise," The smaller demon said picking up some of said food. "And escaping the company of the oaf for a few seconds was also rather beneficial."

Kurama sighed and rolled his eyes. Honestly, this was getting out of hand. "Why don't you just tell him?" He didn't have to be any more specific. Hiei knew exactly what Kurama was talking about.

"It's none of his concern," the fire demon said, becoming as cold as his people. His shoulders stiffened and his eyes smoldered with an unrecognizable emotion.

"No, it's not," the fox agreed. "However, you should ask yourself, isn't it hers?"

"I've explained this to you and I refuse to do so again," he pouted.

Kurama sighed. For such a strong, tough fighter, he could be so... young at times. Though in comparison to his own vast age, he supposed that all of these people were young. Extremely so. "Yes and your reasons are still as idiotice as ever."

At this point, the tension in the kitchen was practically crackling between the two. Thankfully, they weren't the only ones home. "Hey, what are you doing? Quit makin' out in the kitchen and bring the grub!"aked, if you could even describe such a large man as ever making such an undignified sound as 'squeaking'.

"Hey. S'not my fault. I'm wasting away here," the tactless spirit detective whined.

"Shall we?" the red-headed demon asked his small companion.

"Hn," his short-tempered friend returned. So, they gathered the rest of the food and made their way into the living room.

"Bout time," Yusuke groused. "I could have died while you two were away 'talking' in the kitchen."

"Is that a promise?" Hiei asked. Though, he could not have taken it if the detective died. He had given Hiei quite the adventure and improved his strength greatly. But most of all, he had made a friend of the usually elusive little demon.

"You wish, Hiei," Urameshi grinned. "Let's start the damn movie." He pressed play and the movie finally began.

Yusuke looked over at his friends who were sitting in a recliner on the other side of the room. "Hey, Kurama. Why the hell are you sitting all the way over there?" he demanded. He had planned this night so that everyone would hang out and do that 'manly bonding' shit. He'd be damned if he was going to let the fox and fire demon's natural antisocial behavior ruin that.

"Ah, no reason," the kitsune shrugged, trudging up a grin. But in his mind, he was considering Hiei. Everyone always assumed that the fox was the most difficult to understand. Yet the man in front of him was very close to who he himself was. But, if one was to look at Hiei then they would have seen a cold-hearted man. And they would have been wrong. At times Hiei could be described as kind, compassionate, and... loving. He just hid it because he hated to let others see that side of him. In his mind, it was nothing more than an eternal weakness.

"Get your asses over here," Urameshi ordered, patting the place beside him. "You too, Hiei." Kurama sighed, but moved anyway. Hiei looked reluctant, but warily came over and sat on the couch's arm that was the closest to Kurama. Yes, he was annoyed with the fox, but he was still one of his best and most trusted friend.

The four teens sat and watched the movie. It was supposed to be about an epidemic breaking out and the stars have to kill zombies to surjvive. And of course, there had to be some idiotice romance between the leads.

As Yusuke put it, "Oh please. We've handled real zombies, and I had a better kiss when I was dead."

"Yeah, who would be all gushy, romancy in the middle of a zombie attack?" Kuwabara scoffed.

"You," Urameshi reminded him. Kuwabara wanted to deny it, but found that he couldn't do it. After all if his love, Yukina, was in danger then he would do anything to help her. Even if she was a brain-eating zombie. And if she wanted to kiss him in the middle of a battle... well, you wouldn't hear him complaining.

Kurama was bored out of his mind because he had already seen the movie and had not been impressed the first time. So, the second time was much like torture. Hiei, on the other hand, was enthralled. He considered movies along with ice cream to be one of the only useful things that humans had ever invented. But he did agree that most of the things done in movies were idiotic beyond repair, and if done in real life would lead to a certain and agonizing death.

Thankfully, it was finally over. At the end, the food table was completely demolished. There was absolutely nothing left on it. A fair share went into Yusuke and Kuwabara because as 'growing boys' they needed their food. And surprisingly (or maybe not), the rest was inhaled by Hiei. Though, one could not blame him. He's definitely not the 'square meal' type. Kurama managed to eat one whole slice of pizza which led to jokes aobut his petite frame. But after about ten or so minutes of that they had gotten all of it out of their system.

"The girls should be here soon," Urameshi said glancing at the clock. Since he was so far away, he did not notice Hiei's back stiffen when he mentioned the girls. However, a certain fox noticed as he always does.

Of course, Kuwabara had to go for theatrics. Honestly, the boy had missed his calling. He grabbed the front of Yusuke's shirt and screamed in his face. "WHAT? MY SWEET YUKINA IS COMING AND I'M NOT EVEN DRESSED RIGHT. WHY DIDN'T YOU WARN ME?"

"Sorr-ee. That _was_ my warning. Besides, I didn't want you spazzin' out all night," he shrugged. He didn't say it, but another reason was because he wanted to be sure that Hiei would come over. Kuwabara released him, but was still close to his face. "Geex, Kuwabara maybe you should do us both a favor and try some mouthwash."

The red-head glared, but didn't say anything. He was too busy trying to straighten his appearance and decide whether or not to wear a shirt.

Yusuke was only thinking of what Keiko was probably wearing. He hoped that it was some tight pants or one of her school skirts. Yum.

Kurama was shaking his head at the though. Another night of watching his closest friend ignore his sister and try to refrain from killing her suitor. Ah, the joys of a simple life.

And last but definitely not least, Hiei was thinking about seeing his little sister. She was so... good. Just seeing her did him some good. Yet at times, he wished that he could really talk to her. That he could tell her the truth. Yes, his thoughts were filled with dancing images of his sister, but at the moment he had a more pressing thought.

"I have to pee," he annoucned in his monotone.

"Ahh, no way man. I've been saying that I had to go for the last ten minutes," Kuwabara whined. "You'll have to beat me there."

"Ha. Yes, because that would be so difficult," Hiei rolled his eyes, knowing that he could run around the room five times before Kuwabara got anywhere near the bathroom.

"Oooh, I'm tired of you, you stupid midget. You wanna race then let's do it," the burly human jumped up off of the couch, spoiling for a fight. Deep down inside, he knew that he wasn't going to win but his subconcious was obviously not talking to his conscious brain.

Hiei flashed one of his first grins of the night. "You're an oaf," he challenged. Kuwabara growled, and got on his marc. Hiei stood perfectly straight. He had always thought that it was a stupid thing to do and refused to demean himself by doing so.

Of course, Yusuke had to get involved in any and every altercation especially if it was happening in his own living room. "Get ready. Get set. Go."

And hardly a second later, Hiei was gone. Kuwabara barely had time to blink his eyes before he heard the bathroom door close with a loud 'thud'. "How does he do that?" he asked, staring flabbergasted at the bathroom door.

Kurama chuckled dryly. "It's part of the talents that he had developed as a demon."

"Oh gee, another 'demon adaptations' lesson," Yusuke groaned. "Let's just stay away from anatomy. That's more than I want to know about old three eyes."

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Urameshi," Kazuma Kuwabara shuddered. There were just some things that he didn't ever want to hear.

"Aww, but I like it down here," he whined.

"Oh shut up, idiot," the burlier man said shoving his smaller friend roughly.

"Idiot?" the detective chuckled, shoving his larger friend hard enough to make him fall over. "You must be dumber than you look. You're the idiot."

"Yeah, well there's only one way to solve this."

And with that, they both turned to the fox. "Kurama!" they shouted in unison.

He had been expecting that. It always came to him being the definite voice between the two. Not that it would ever stop the arguing. "Yes?"

"Who's the bigger idiot?" Yusuke demanded, though he was sure that he already knew the answer.

MEANWHILE:

Hiei was standing in the bathroom. He had already finished his business and carefully washed his hands. Contrary to popular belief, he actually tried to stay clean and always washed his hands after going to the bathroom.

But back to standing. It was mostly to anger the moron, but some small part of him wanted to hear what was said when he was not around. Though, whenever he **was** there, it was just like he wasn't.

All the while, he could hear the conversation that was going on outside of the door. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Urameshi," the idiot groaned. Ha, that would never happen. The detective was a healthy teenager in most ways including his need to think in the 'gutter'.

"Aww, but I like it down here," he whined, yet one could hear the chuckle in his tone. Incorridgible. Part of what made him so intriguing to the fire demon. No matter what, he would still say or do anything that he wanted to.

"Oh shut up, idiot," Kuwabara said. Idiot, that was rich. As humans said, he was a pot calling a pan black. Or something like that.

"Idiot?" Yusuke chuckled. "You must be dumber than you look. You're the idiot." Ha, yes because the detective was so intelligent. His grades were so extraordinarily wonderful. Not.

"Yeah, well there's one way to solve this." The idiot had an idea. Though chances were that it led back to Kurama to act as a mediator.

"Kurama!" They shouted in unison. Of course. No human can solve their own problems. They have to have the smart fox to do it for them.

One could hear the smile in his tone. He was used to this type of treatment and viewed it as a part of the unescapable facts of life. Hiei had always wondered about that. Why would one always listen to the nonsensical problems of others? He had asked the fox once. And of course, Kurama had just smiled slightly and said that it was how he was. Hiei was still trying to figure that one out. How was Kurama really? Or more precisely, who was Kurama really?

"Who's the bigger idiot?" Yusuke demanded. Ha, Hiei chuckled from his position behind the bathroom door. The age old arguement that those two delighted in having. He was sure that Kurama would answer the question in the usual way, but before he did that, then he would pretend to actually thinkg about it first.

BACK TO THE PRESENT:

Hiei couldn't have that. So, he threw open the door and exited with his cape swirling about him. "You both tie as the greatest idiots that I know. Congratulations, you must be so proud," he commented, firmly plopping himself down on the couch.

"Hey!" Who asked you, Runt?" Kuwabara demanded, bristling angrily.

"No one had to. If you insist on being an idiot, then at least realize that it is my right to make comments."

"Sheesh, cut it out. You two are like an old married couple," Yusuke complained. "Kuwabara, didn't you have to pee?"

"Oh yeah," he said, just remembering that he had to use the bathroom. "Stupid runt made me forget. Haha," he chuckled embarrassedly. He stood up and ran into the bathroom before he could have an accident. Which is good, because even Kurama wouldn't have cleant up that mess.

"Aww man. Shorty didn't even flush," he whined as he entered the bathroom. Kuwabara stood over the toilet, looked down and saw something that shocked him almost to the point of making him pass out.

He somehow managed to stagger out of the bathroom and back into the living room. "Kurama! Urameshi! You gotta see this!"

Urameshi raised his black brows. "What is it, Kuwabara? You finally manage to go all on your own?"

"Oh ha-ha, Urameshi. But seriously. You've got to see this. You too Kurama."

Yusuke shrugged, looking at Kurama. Kurama was one hundred percent sure that he knew what was happening, but sincerely hoped that it was wrong. However, we all know that Kurama being wrong is a very rare occurence. Kurama shook his head, not wanting to take part in this, but Urameshi took it as a go ahead and walked into the bathroom behind Kuwabara. Kurama sighed, but followed, not wanting to miss the inevitable fireworks.

"You may want to come along. I think your secret is out," the fox murmered just loud enough so that only Hiei could hear him.

"Hn," the fire demon grunted back. Kurama sighed again in pity and entered the bathroom.

"See, look," Kuwabara demanded pointing into the toilet bowl. There were about twelve, yellow stones floating on top of the toilet water. "Hiruseki stones."

"Whoa," Yusuke murmered, actually grasping the situation for once. Kuwabara was about to find out the truth and he wasn't going to be too happy about it. He might even try to attack someone...

Kurama had been expecting to see the stones, but he knew that chances were that it would not end well for anyone in their little group. At least not for now. Hopefully, it would blow over in the end.

"W...what's goin' on guys? Those are like the stones that Yukina makes when she cries."

"Well Kurama, should you tell him or should I?" Yusuke asked with his usual noneffected tone. Honestly, the world could be ending around him and he'd just pull out a cigarette and smoke while everyone else ran around panicking.

"Er perhaps Hiei should speak before we tell him anything," the fox said placatingly, not wanting to overstep his already taut boundaries.

They all turned to where Hiei was standing in the entry way. His red eyes were large and darting as if he was considering running out of the door and into the night. Which probably would have been his best bet, but he was not the type to run, hide himself away, and let others fight his battles for him. So, he stayed planted where he was. "Hiei, it's been long enough. I think that it's time to tell Kuwabara the truth."

"Do as you wish. I no longer care," he lied. He did not remove himself from the dooray, but seemed to be far away from the conversation. But of course, he was completley listening to everything that was being said. No, he didn't want Kuwabara to know, but there was no turning back. He had been careless and had to pay the price. However, he could still swear the fool to secrecy. His idiotic honor code would not allow him to break an oath. Even one to someone whom he loathed.

"So, now can you tell me what's up with these freaky stones?" Kuwabara begged again.

At this point, Yusuke was at the end of his ropes. "Geeze, I'd never thought that I'd say this, but patience is a virtue. So, shut the fuck up and listen to Kurama," Yusuke ordered. Kuwabara shut up automatically. He knew that tone. A voice that brooked no dissention from anyone. The voice of a true leader.

"Thank you, Yusuke. I suppose that we should begin as any teacher would: with a quesiton. What do you know about the residents of the ice village?"

"Uuuh, not much," he admitted. "I know that they're all women. All of the maidens create Hiruseki stones when they cry and the strones are worth a lot on the black market because of how rare they are."

"Correct," the fox praised. "Though, you should go into specifics more."

"Well, Teach. What do you mean?" Urameshi demanded, annoyed. This was starting to feel way too much like shcool for him. And there's nothing that Yusuke Urameshi hates more than school work and teachers asking questions that they already know the answers to. Just the thought made him want to punch a wall and watch it crumble.

"There is a lot more to the Koorime people. For example, the Koorime elders isolated their people on an icy island in the sky due to their fear of men's corruptive urges. Yes, they are all women. However, that brings upt the question of reproduction.

The Koorime rejected the company of all men. So, for reproduction they developed a type of asexual mating. In this type of mating, one girl would be born when the woman turned one hundred years old and the tribal line would be carried on. Note that reproduction is not even possible untile the woman turns one hundred years old.

At that point, she is technically mature and ready to reproduce. If she abstains from sex then she will deliver a beautiful baby girl. However, if she does have a sexual relationship with a man then she will have an equally beautiful baby boy."

"Okay, does this have anything to do with why there are magic stones in my freakin' toilet?" the detective asked, his short attention span coming into play. There was a lot that he could do, but listening to long stories was not one of those things.

"I'm getting there. You must have the background story to understand the present correlations," the fox explained, annoyed at being interrupted mid-lecture. There was nothing worse than that.

"Fine, but know that I'm not known for my patience."

"Noted. Now, take a hypothetical situation. One there was a beautiful ice maiden. She was strong-willed and determined, and somewhat high in the infrastructure of the community. Her hundredth birthday came as a celebration for her. It was also the day that she conceived her children. Yes, I say had twins. One boy and one girl."

"Hey, a boy and a girl..." Kuwabara began having almost figured it out. "So, she must have..." he trailed off.

"Very good, Kuwabara," Kurama praised. "The girl was from the typical asexual reproduction and the boy was from her sexual union with a man. Unfortunately, the Koorime don't care for that sort of thing. So, the woman was given her daughter, but she had to cast her son off of the sheer face of the island.

It tore the woman apart. She finally had to succumb to the fact that she had no choice. She had to get rid of her son. She could not bring herself to do so, so she acquired the help of her best friend. Rei threw the small boy with the haunting eyes off of the cliff to his supposed doom.

However, the boy was strong and managed to survive with minimal damage. He grew up to be a thief at first. A thief with a penchant for killing. He continued down this path until even the thieves who had raised him grew afraid of his murderous tendencies. Then, he was left to his own devices which led him down many a twisting path.

All the while, his sister was growing dissatisfied with her life. She felt that her people were too cold and frozen. She managed to escape to Human World and started out on a search for her long-lost brother who she is still looking for today. And the whole time, the boy stood watching over his little siste and leading her unto the least dangerous paths."

"Whoa, so you're saying that the boy was Mr. Bad Attitude over there?" Yusuke marveled. Sure, he had always suspected that Hiei had a messed up home life, but he hadn't thought that it would be that bad. Yusuke's mom had been drunk most of his childhood, and only cared to be a mother in the rare event that she was sober. Yeah, she made a ton of mistakes and did a bunch of stupid things, but she was still his mother.

On the other hand, Hiei's mom had agreed to throw him off of a cliff. So yeah, Hiei definitely won the 'who-had-the-most-fucked-up-life' contest.

"So, **you're** Yukina's brother?" Kuwabara demanded angrily. He felt bad for Hiei's life story, but didn't want to show it. So, he went with his only other availiable emotion. Anger.

"Yes," Hiei said, speaking for the first time since the story had began. He was very quiet, even for himself. Perhaps the story had stirred up old memories of his past. Memories that he had never wanted to resurface.

"Well, why don't you tell her, ya' jerk?" he demanded. He wanted to grab the little punk by his shirt, but something was holding him back. Probably his conscious. "She's looking for you, and you just stand there lookin' all cool and refusin' to do anything about it."

"Kuwabara. There are some things that you don't know about it, so just lay off of him," Yusuke ordered before things could get violent. Yes, he liked violence, but he did not want either of his friends to die at the other's hand. And death was about one hundred percent assured if the arguing continued to escalate at this rate.

"No, he's gonna tell me. Why didn't you tell her the truth?"

Thankfully, he was spared from answering by a knock on the door. However, there was still a lot of unresigned tension in the room. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that it was the girls at the door. Some sort of arrangement had to be came to before the door could be opened and before the girls could get too angry.

"You won't tell them," Kurama ordered in his sternest voice.

"I'll make no promises," Kuwabara huffed, angry at being left out of the loop for so long. Not to mention, that he was angry at having to lie to the love of his life. "I can't lie to her, but I'll do my best to keep silent for as long as possible."

Kurama nodded reluctantly. It wasn't much, but it was all that he was going to get at the moment. Thankfully, Kuwabara was an honorable man and would stick to what he said. So, the chances were good that they would get through this night unscathed. Hopefully.

"Okay then. Flush the toilet," Yusuke said. "And let's get out of here before Keiko whips out her key and finds us all in the bathroom together."

Kazuma shuddered at the thought as he leaned over and flushed the toilet. The water was still swirling down as the boys made their way back into the living room. They tried to sit down and appear comfortable, so they wouldn't look like they were up to something.

The fox sat close to Hiei on the couch to make sure tha he was as fine as he was pretending to be. The burly human sat in the armchair on the other side of the room. He was feeling a bit betrayed by the team. He was never told anything, because they thought that he was an idiot that needed protecting. It annoyed him. He was a part of the team and had been from the begining. Besides, he was **not** an idiot.

Urameshi sighed as he opened the door. This was not going to end well, but at least it would be fun to watch the mayhem. And he had a front row seat, but they had better not break any of his stuff or heads would roll.

He threw the door open to see a very angry Keiko flanked by Botan, Shizuru, and Yukina herself. "H...hey Keiko," he managed to stammer out.

Now the stammer coud be related to two things. It could have been the fact that the girl the cares for the most in the world was angry, had enough control over him to get him back and live to tell the tale. Or the most likely reason was the short skirt and tight blouse that she was wearing. And if you had to list a third reason then it may have been the fact that he was hiding a very big secret from her.

"Hey? Hey? That's all you can say after you had us all out here waiting?"

"Sorry about that. We were arguing about who would get the door." Well, at least no one can say that he's not creative.

"Typical," Shizuru sighed, forcing herself into the room past her friends. "Hey bro."

"Hi Shizuru. See you weren't off gettin' any prettier," he teased, hoping that he was acting normally. Though normal for Kuwabara was still strange for most people.

He definitely regretted the teasing when the vien in her forehead started throbbing. "What was that?" she asked with a deadly calm. Emphasis on the word deadly.

"Oh nothing. Just sayng how you get prettier 'n' prettier everyday."

"That's what I thought you said," she threatened. "Now, where's the beer?" And with that, she made her way to the fridge.

Keiko was about to push past Yusuke when he lifted the back of her skirt in his normal fashion. "Niiice," he whistled appreciatively as he looked at the long, silky legs in front of him. She was definitely a beautiful girl. He was so lucky. Not that he could tell her that.

"Oooh, you jerk!" she shouted, leaped back, and slapped him with all of her strength. Whn he straightened up there was a large, red hand pring on the side of his face.

"Oooow, what was that for?" the ever clueless teen asked, rubbing his new sore spot.

"Don't lift my skirt!"

"I couldn't help it. You're just too pretty for your own good."

"Oh Yusuke," Keiko blushed. Whenever he complimented her, it made her feel like she was the most beautiful girl in the entire world. Like she was something other than smart.

"Ahh, young love," Botan, pilot of the River Styx, cooed. Though her title is also the grim reaper. One would soon find that there is nothing grim about her at all. It would be almost impossible to find someone with a better or sunnier disposition.

"Yeah, it's enough to make you want to vomit," said a gravely voice from behind Yukina.

"Grandma, is that you?"

"Who were you expecting?" Genkai asked, stepping forward. "The Easter Bunny?"

"Someone a hell of a lot younger and a hell of a lot prettier," Yusuke chuckled. There was nothing that he enjoyed more than teasing his mentor. When she had died, he had almost fallen apart. He would never admit it, but she was very important to him.

"Oh, so you meant me?" A deeper voice asked.

"Speaking of young. Here enters pacifier breath," the Spirit detective grinned at his boss. "You're the only teenager that I know that still uses a pacie. Get help, dude!"

"Ugh, Yusuke. I refuse to go over this again," he said shaking his long hair. Secretly or perhaps not so secretly, he was very proud of his new looks. It was great to not be a baby anymore.

"Heehee," Urameshi chuckled. There was nothing better than getting under the kid's skin. It was one of his greatest pleasures in life, and he could never get tired of it.

"Hey dimwit. Instead of standing there cackling like the idiot that you are, perhaps you can let us in?" his old mentor snapped. To most people, it would seem like she hated her young student. But to those who knew her, they knew that this was how she showed that she cared. Besides, it wouldn't do to let his head get too big. Goodness knows that he is insufferable enough.

"Oh, yeah sorry," the detective chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. He stepped back and let his friends enter the apartment.

"Hello everyone," Kurama said in his usual, genial way.

"Hi Kurama," Botan and Koenma chorused.

"I take it that your walk was pleasant," he continued, getting the pleasantries out of the way. Especially since he knew that he couldn't count on the others to do it.

"Yes, it was," Botan beamed. She had always liked Kurama. He was the most polite and genial of the bunch. Not to mention that she loved the color of his hair. At least she wasn't the only one with seemingly unnatural hair.

Of course, Kuwabara had to say hello to his 'one true love'. "Hello, my beautiful Yukina. If I had known that you were coming, then I would have came and walked you here myself." And he threw himself down in front of her, grabbing her hands in his.

"Hello, Kuwabara, it's lovely to see you again," she smiled, her voice sounding so much like the chirp of birds. Two people in the room sat to attention. Kuwabara smiled. He loved when she called his name. He listened to everything that came out of her beautiful mouth. It was all... perfect in his eyes.

Hiei was also listening. Yukina was one of the only things that he cared about. He couldn't reveal himself but, he could watch over her. And that's just what he intended to do.

The ice maiden glanced around and saw everyone. She was a bit startled to see Mr. Hiei sitting on the couch next to Mr. Kurama. Mr. Hiei was one person who always seemed to be carrying a terrible burden. Except for when he was fighting. She sincerely wished that there was something she could do for him.

Yukina extracted her hand from Kuwabara and made her way to stand in front of Hiei. "Hello, Mr. Hiei. How are you today?"

Hiei was surprised. She always spoke to him, but for some reason it still always shocked him. It was probably because he did not feel worthy of her attention in the slightest. "Fine. And you?" he asked, his eyes soften9ing as he looked at his little sister.

"Wonderful," she beamed, her own red eyes shining brightly with joy as she unknowingly smiled at her brother.

"Hey, toddler. You were supposed to be here earlier with the rest of us," Yusuke chided, from his place next to Keiko. Needless to say, he was exceedingly comfortable.

"Sorry Yusuke. Botan and I were running late, so we both just stayed with the girls," he shrugged, trying to sound apologetic. And he was failing miserably.

"Hey wait, you rode with her on her oar?" Kuwabara asked, finally distracted from watching Yukina. Everyone who knew Botan knew that she almost never let anyone ride on her oar.

"Well, George the Ogre sure didn't carry me down here," the young prince scoffed. No, he had left the poor ogre to handle both his paperwork and his father for the night.

"So, I'm assuming that Botan drove?" Yusuke asked with a sly grin on his face. The type of grin that warned people that trouble was coming.

"Of course. It is her oar, after all."

"So," Urameshi grinned even wider. "You were ridin' bitch?" By bitch, Yusuke meant that Koenma had been riding on the back of the oar. He was also implying that the prince was the female of the equation.

"Yes, Yusuke. If you must be coarse, then I was riding bitch."

"So, were you grabbing the girl or the stick?" he asked, wiggling his eye brows.

Unfortunately, the teen was so into his teasing that he didn't see the hand until it made contact with the back of his head. "Apologize," Keiko ordered.

Urameshi sulked for about half of a second. "Sorry Koenma," he mumbled.

"Apology accepted," the prince grinned. Ahhh, thank goodness for Keiko.

"Children," Genkai rolled her eyes. "Never had any of my own and now I have more than my fair share. Nice."

"But you love us," Yusuke grinned as she grimaced like she was sucking a lemon.

"I'd like to agree, but I don't think lies like that will help my karma, kid."

Shizuru came back into the living room with her almost empty beer can. "So, what's on the tab for the rest of the night?" she asked, plopping down on the couch next to Kurama.

"Movie?" Kazuma suggested.

"Bingo!" The pilot squealed. "Let's watch a romance!" All of the boys groaned, but the girls were very excited. Of course, the two genders had to argue. It had been going on for about ten minutes when a small voice punctured the air of tension.

"Yusuke, may I use your bathroom?" Yukina asked somewhat shyly. While Yusuke was kind and funny, she hadn't spent much time with him, and was still somewhat nervous in his prescence.

"Oh yeah, sure Yukina. Go on back through that door," he said, pointing. No one but Keiko knoticed how his voice seemed to tighten slightly when he spoke. It made her wonder, what was he hiding.

"Thank you," she grinned, stepping over Hiei's feet. She tripped and would have fallen if it was not for Hiei's strong hands that steadied her before she could do so.

"Thank you, Mr. Hiei," she said, awarding him with her brightest and kindest smile.

"It's nothing," he responded shortly in his monotone. But in his mind, it was not 'nothing'. It was amazing. It made him feel warmer than fire.

She flashed him one last smile as she made her way into the bathroom. The four boy's eyes all met in relief, glad that they had cleaned up after themselves. Ahh, sometimes people speak too soon. Or in this case, glance too soon.

About a minute later, Yukina emerged, walking stiffly. "Who was the last person in the bathroom?" she asked quietly.

The boy's eyes widened. Crap. Yusuke decided that he would try his best to stop the inevitable train wreck. However, he knew that stopping a train would just end up with the destruction of, well... everything. "Why?"

Though Yukina had pressing thoughts, she was too kind to change the subject. Besides, she wanted her friends to know why she was so excited. "There were Hiruseki stones in the toilet," she explained. "There's onluy one other ice maiden in this world and I have already visited her today. She was not here, so that only leaves my brother." Damn, this girl was smart. Too smart for her own good.

Kurama nudged Hiei, but he just sat there watching the events unfold and hoping that this might blow over. Either way, he was _**not**_ going to be the one to tell her the truth.

"Well, uh, see... I don't know who was in there..." Yusuke lied. It hurt him to do so, but he couldn't go against his friend's wishes. I would be wrong _**and**_ betray the guys trust. And Hiei was not big on trust.

"Please, Yusuke, think. I need to find my brother," she begged. And tears sprung to her eyes. As they coursed down her cheeks, they formed a large series of Hiruseki stones.

Hiei was looking at his sister who was so desperate to find him. He was fighting to keep his own tears inside. He both needed and wanted to reach out to her, but bit down on the impulse. He could not disappoint her with the truth.

Kurama carefully and silently put his arm around his friend's shoulder. The smaller man was glad for the comfort, though he would never admit it. Thankfully, he didn't have to. The fox knew it quite well and would hold it over him later, at a point when he was less vulnerable.

"It's okay," the kitsune whispered, so low that no one else could hear it. "It'll be fine." The fire demon nodded reluctantly, perhaps the fox had a point.

"Please," she cried, dropping to the floor under the pressure of her worry. "Just tell me."

All of the strong boys looked... helpless. None of them really knew how to deal with a crying woman. Yusuke's only experience was with Keiko, but a joke and marriage proposal could fix that. Obviously, neither of those things could help the weeping ice maiden that was sprawled on the floor.

Thankfully, the girls were there, and knew what to do. Well, most of them did. Shizuru was smoking a cigarette and watching the drama around her. Genkai was standing right next to her, and doing the same thing.

On the other hand, Botan and Keiko jumped forward. They pulled the prone figure up, and tried to calm her sobs with hushed words and soothing tones. But nothing that they did worked.

"Yusuke?" Keiko demanded, her brown eyes flaring dnagerous. There were two very important things that you never wanted to do to Keiko. One, make her angry and two, hurt her friends. Now, both of these things were being done. "If you know anything about it, tell us."

"Fine," he sighed, trying to think of something to say. What could explain this? What could he say that would not blow up in his face? "I was the last person in the bathroom." Yes, it was his Achille's heel. He would do anything for his friends. Even if it meant hurting himself.

Yukina's head shot up. "But that's impossible. It can't be."

"You're covering for someone," Keiko pouted. "Who is it?"

Yusuke looked around, unsure of what to say. He had to lie his way out. But how can you lie to someone who knows you like the back of their hand? Ugh, why did Keiko have to be the only one who didn't know about this? She would have known what to do. Though her answer would probably have been to just tell the truth in the first place.

All the while, something was about to happen, that no one had expected. "It's me."

Every head in the room whipped around to face Hiei. Everyone who knew the truth gasped in shock. None of them had ever expected him to reveal himself. But now he had more or less done so. Now, there was nothing left to do so, but sit back, relax, and watch the show.

"Wh-what?" Yukina asked, her tears slowing their descent down her cheeks.

"I left the jewels in the bathroom," he admitted and it felt very freeing to let the chips fall as they may. It was now or never, but whatever Yukina chose was what he would respect. Even if she wanted nothing to do with him.

"You're my brother," she said, staggering to her feet. There was no hesitation in her voice. It was as if she had always known and it had just clicked into place in her mind. His matching red eyes, his tensing at news about the ice maidens, and his protectiveness and kindness towards her. It all made sense now.

"Yes," he replied stiffly. For a moment following the announcement, there was even a bit of a smile there, perched precariously on his lips.

Neither said anything. Hiei was waiting for her to speak, but she didn't. As usual, he took it the wrong way. "I understand if you don't want to have any dealings with me."

Yukina looked at him strangely for a minute. Then, she threw her arms around her silly brother. She squeezed him as tightly as she could, her head leaning into the crook of his shoulder and neck. His smile widened as he squeezed her back.

You're crazy. I've been searching for you all this time," she murmered. "Why wouldn't I want you?"

"I've done horrible things, Yukina. Things that you could not even imagine," he admittted, not wanting to lie to her for any reason and hoping against all hope that she wouldn't hate him.

"Hiei, I don't care what you've done in the past. I just want you," she replied, crying again. Her tears dripped and turned into stones that hit the ground with a tinkling patter.

"Don't cry," he warned because he was still trying to keep a lock and key on his own tears.

"I can't not cry," she sobbed gently, holding on to her brother for dear life.

And with those words, Hiei's walls broke down. They had lasted years through battles, and near-death experiences. Yet, they could not withstand his little sister's voice. The walls were gone, crumbled to the ground and tears coursed down his cheeks before turning into Hiruseki stones.

"You're crying," she murmered in awe as she caught one of the tears.

"Perhaps," he replied. This was the happiest that he had been in his entire life. In fact, most of his life had been spent looking for her. And now he had her. He actually got to be close with the reason for his existence, his little sister.

"I love you, big brother." She smiled, enjoying the way that those words felt on her tongue.

"I...I..I," he stammered. He had never said those three word in the same sentence before. To be honest, he had never even thought about saying them to anyone. Yes he, (shudder) loved his sister, but... he just couldn't say it. "I...I"

"Shh," she ordered, putting her long pointer finger over his lips. "It's okay if you can't say it yet."

Those words gave the young fire demon power that even he did not know that he had. "I...I love you too, little sister," he declared with only the slightest tremor in his voice.

While this was going on, the brother and sister had grown oblivious to the people who were watching them. "Aww," everyone chorused.

Koenma smiled, softly grabbing Botan by her trim waist. "I love happy endings," she sobbed gently into his shoulder.

"So do I," he smiled at the beautiful girl in his arms.

The siblings suddenly became aware of the attention that they were receiving. Both blushed a deep crimson. "What?" Hiei demanded, leading his sister to the couch. He ended up between Kurama and Yukina. Kurama squeezed his diminutive friend's shoulder in support. He was happy that hte boy had finally found his little sister.

"Well, I know this is a happy ever after and all, but I think that there are still some unanswered questions," Yusuke interrupted. He hadn't really wanted to ruin the moment, but if it went on any longer then he might start crying too. And there was no way in hell that he was going to cry in front of his friends. He had an image to uphold, and all of that crying would tarnish his hard-earned bad boy reputation.

"Such as?" Kurama asked, grinning at the young detective. He was impressed. Apparently the detective could be very shrewd at times. Surprisingly.

"What's up with short and depressing pissing jewels and Yukina crying them? How does that work?"

"Good question," the fox grinned. "And easily anwered."

"Well Teach, why don't you answer it and leave off the commentary?" he asked earning yet another swift slap to the back of his head.

Kurama smirked. "As you know, Hiruseki stones are created by ice maidens when they cry. What you may not know is that they must produce at least a certain amount of stones in a certain amount of time.

Hiei may not be a maiden, but his body does conform to some typical standards. One of these being the need to excrete a certain amound of jewels in, say, a month.

He does not cry enough to facilitate the creation of Hiruseki stones. So, his body had to find another outlet to get rid of the excess jewels."

"So, his body chose to get rid of 'em by peeing?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yes, urinating was his most efficient way of excreting the jewels."

"Cool," Yusuke said, content that he knew everything that he needed to.

"You know what I don't get, Urameshi?" Kazuma asked, scratching his chin. He had been wondering this for a good while.

"Anything and everything," the detective chuckled. Of course, this only served to make the red-head even angrier.

"Shut up, Urameshi, and listen to me for once."

"Yeah, yeah. Stop being so melo-dramatic," the detective rolled his eyes. "Just ask the damn question."

Kuwabara mumbled to himself huffily. Stupid Urameshi always degrading him. "Stop you whining Kazuma," Shizuru ordered.

Needless to say, Kazuma stopped huffing before his sister could really get angry. "How'd you keept the secret anyway, Urameshi?"

"Numerous death threats," Hiei cut in just as calmly as if he was discussing the weather.

"Must've been. The dimwit couldn't keep a secret to save his life," his mentor chuckled.

"Hey, assholes. I can keep a secret," Yusuke yelled angrily. "Tell 'em Keiko."

"Actually Yusuke, they're right. You're horrible with secrets," she said.

"Oh come on," he demanded. "When have I ever told your secrets, Keiko?"

"You do remember that incident on the way home from the Dark Tournament?" Keiko asked with ice, cold steel in her voice.

"Oh, I remeber now. You had your first wet dream about me and freaked," he remembered with a smile on his face.

"And you told everybody?" she blushed. Just the thought of those days made her light-headed from humiliation and rememberance.

"No. To be fair, I only told Kuwabara," he defended himself.

"And how did you come to that conclusion?"

"You talk in your sleep. Loudly. And everyone except for Kuwabara are demons with super-hearing. Even grandma, didn't need her hearing-aids for that." Keiko groaned and buried her head in Yusuke's shoulder.

"Watch it, kid," Genkai warned.

Yusuke just rolled his eyes. "Keiko, look at me." she ignored him, but snuggled her head closer. Obviously in a sign to show that he was listening.

Yusuke did not know how to deal with this. So, he shot Botan a pleading glance. Thankfully, she was so kind that she decided to help her favorite teen couple. "Oh Keiko don't be embarrassed," the pilot pleaded. She hated for her friends to feel sad, and she really wanted to do something to help her.

"Not like I haven't had the same dreams. About you though," he shrugged. He was a teenage boy. It was no big deal to him, but he could understand why Keiko was so upset. It was her first one, after all.

Keiko happened to be incredibly smart. But she was also incredibly curious and occasionally, incredibly naive. "Really?" she asked, her head popping up.

"Duh, you're hot," he shrugged. Then he noticed the skeptical look on her face. "Hey, if you don't believe me, ask anybody." Keiko looked around at each of the congregated people.

"Yeah, made sharing a room with him almost impossible," Kuwabara shuddered. Ugh, he would never get the idea of the way he groaned out of his mind. It was enough to make him sick.

"Even when he was dead," Botan added. She had always thought that it was so romantic. Two people that could never be separated, not even by death.

"And especially during training. I practically had to scrub my brain with bleach from constant exposure to teenage hormones," Genkai complained.

"Interesting," Kurama smiled at the thought that had just occured to him.

"What's so interesting?" the detective demanded. It didn't take a genius to know that it was about him.

"Maybe the fact that you can't even keep your own secrets," Hiei smirked. The fire demon always seemed to know what his fox friend was thinking. Especailly in times like this. Well, at least he was right.

"Secret? Ha, that's no secret. I'm damned proud of it," Urameshi grinned.

"Of course," Botan sighed. The boy had no shame. It was his gift. Though most of the time it was just annoying.

"Dimwit," Genkai chimed in, in her usual way. It had been her nickname for her since the first day that she had met him. And it always would be.

"Ah, you're distracting," Kuwabara groaned. "Back to the point, Urameshi, you can't keep secrets."

"Yeah, I can. I haven't told anyone that Botan and Baby face are dating," he yelled to prove his point. And that's when he realized what he had said. "Ooops."

And with that, everyone turned to face the two in question. Unfortunately, Koenma had failed to remove his arm from around Botan's waist, so the evidence was there for all to seel. "Yusuke!" they both screeched angrily.

"Heh heh," he chuckled. "Guess I'm not so great at keeping secrets after all."

"Really Yusuke?" Botan demanded with a blush. She had known that he wouldn't be able to keep it, but she had thought that he would have lasted longer than this. Or maybe not.

"Wait. You two are dating?" Kazuma asked, mouth open in shock.

"About time," Shizuru said, smoking yet another cigarette.

"How long have you two been together?" Kurama asked, though he was sure tht he knew the answer. He usually did.

"Since the day after we got back from the Dark Tournament," Koenma smiled at the memory.

FLASHBACK:

_ And she kissed him again. This time it was more than just a peck. Their lips and hands were everywhere._

_The new couple was so... distracted that they did not notice the office door pop open. They also did not notice the black-haired teen, standing open-mouthed in the doorway. Or rather they didn't until he began to laugh._

_ "Hahaa, should've known," he guffawed, clutching his kneews for support. Botan squeaked as she half turned to face the young detective. Koenma quickly dropped his hands from her waist to his own lap._

_ "It's not what it looks like," the prince protested, trying to smooth his ruffled hair and clothes._

_ Yusuke Urameshi looked at the two skeptically. Botan's hair was down for the first time ever, but it was mussed like someone had ran their hands through it. Her off- the- shoulder top was down toward her elbows, and you could see her bra strap. The shirt was also up on her hips and stomach. Not to mention the fact that there was paper strewn everywhere. The exact opposite of his usual habits._

_ Koenma was also...dishieveled. His hair was sticking up in many different directions. His usual orderly clothes were touseled as if they had been tugged on. Not to mention that she was wrapped around his lap, their eyes were bright, and their breathing was a very deep and very loud panting._

_ "So, you weren't about to fuck her into you desk?" the cheeky teenager chuckled._

_ "Of course not," the two said together, blushing crimson._

_ "Yeah right," the teenager replied skeptically, rolling his eyes. Like he didn't know what was about to go on. He was a teenaged boy after all. "So, what were you two doing? Talking?"_

_ "Please have a seat, Yusuke," Botan smiled while pulling her clothes to order. Most men would have found this annoying or assumptious, but Koenma is not most men. He was actually quite excited that she felt so comfortable around him._

_ "Don't mind if I do," the detective said flopping down into the chair and crossing his ankles on his boss' desk. Yusuke was grinning on the inside. He knew that he was the only one that could get away with treating the prince like that._

_ "Did you have a reason for stopping by, Yusuke?" the prince sighed._

_ "Other than catching you and Botan sucking face?" he teased._

_ Koenma sighed again. "You're not going to do anything until we get past this, are you?" And of course, he knew Yusuke well enough to know the answer before he even spoke._

_ "Nope."_

_ "Well, as of earlier today, Koenma and I are officially dating," Botan grinned in pride. She was happy to let one of her friends know the truth because she knew that it would have to be a secret. For now, at least._

_ "About damn time," Yusuke cheered, clapping his hands._

_ The new couple looked at each other. Were they really so transparent? Had everyone been aware except for them? They had always teased Yusuke about that. Maybe they were the same after all._

_ "You're not bothered by the fact that we're dating?" Botan asked just to make sure._

_ "Why would I be? It's none of my damn business," he shrugged. "In fact, I'm happy for you."_

_ "Really?" the couple asked in surprise._

_ "Well, duh. But seriously, on the table?"_

_ It didn't seem possible, but Koenma's face got even redder. "How'd you get back here anyway?" the prince demanded, hoping that his new girlfriend wouldn't mind his lack of experience. Though he was sure that she wouldn't. After all, she wasn't the type to break up with someone over something so trivial._

_ "Mr. Big and Blue let me in. He seemed pretty pissed about something," the detective shrugged. Sure, his boss seemed to treat the ogre like crap, but it was just because he actually cared. He cared about Yusuke too, but he knew that his brand of tough love would not be enough for Yusuke Urameshi, resident 'bad boy'._

_ "Perhaps you were a little hard on him," Botan fussed gently._

_ "Yes, I suppose so," he nodded. "I'll have to apologize to the ogre."_

_ "George," she reminded him._

_ "George," he agreed. Though it was strange for him to call the man by his real name._

_ Yusuke had to grin. The two had barely been dating two hours, and Koenma was already easy to control. "Whiiiped," he chuckled._

_ "Didn't you want something?" Koenma demanded._

_ "Two things actually," Urameshi corrected. "First of all, how do you kiss with that stupid pacifier in your mouth?"_

_ Koenma sighed. Not this again. Everyone other thing out of the detective's mouth had to do with his pacifier. If he knew the power that lied inside then perhaps he would have been a bit more respectful. But this was Yusuke Urameshi, so most likely not. Or more like d_

_ "I happen to adore his pacifier," Botan replied indignantly. And she did adore his pacifier. He had taken it out for their first kiss, but forgotten it when Botan ambushed him. She had enjoyed their sucking tug-of-war. Not that she would tell the slick-haired teen anything about that._

_ "Of course you do. Nothing like a baby's binky to make makin' out fun."_

_ "Get your mind out of the gutter," Koenma mock-chided. No one who knew Yusuke Urameshi would have seriously thought that the teen's mind __**could**__ come out of the gutter._

_ "Aww, but I like it down here," he whined._

_ Both the prince and the pilot rolled their eyes. "Who knew that teenagers could be so... juvenile?_

_ "Since you have that out of your system, don't you have something else that you wanted to talk to me about?" Jr. asked._

_ "Yeah, I was thinkin' that we should have a little shin-dig to celebrate," he suggested. "What do you think?"_

_ "I think that I'm surprised that you're thinking," Koenma smirked. "And who exactly do you mean by 'we'?"_

_ "You, Botan, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, Keiko, Shizuru, Yukina, and last and definitely best me," he ticked off on his fingers. "Ya' know the whole gang."_

_ "Sounds good," the prince nodded, but he had over looked something important._

_ "Where will the party be, Yusuke?" she asked, asking the exact question that her boyfriend had been about to._

_ "Oh," he said. He hadn't really thought that far into the planning phase. He couldn't volunteer any of his friend's houses because he hadn't asked anyone and that would be rude. Yusuke may have been a lot of things, but rude was not one of them. And so he volunteered the only place that he had. "My house."_

_ Botan and Koenma shared a glance were somewhat reluctant to accept the detective's offer. Yes Yusuke's apartment was nice, but his mother was known for partying. It wasn't fear of his mother. No, she was only a danger to herself. The real problem was the way that Yusuke's mood would be effected. As much as he hated to admit it, Koenma would much rather have Yusuke with a bad attitude and pacifier jokes than a mopey, morose Yusuke. It just wasn't natural._

_ Urameshi had caught the glance that had passed between the two of them. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were thinking about. He didn't mind. He knew exactly how being around his drunken mom had effected him, and had no delusions about her even attempting to change. "Look, we'll have it on a Friday night. Mom'll be out the whole weekend boozing and getting wasted."_

_ The two exchanged yet another glance. "Oh come on. I'll even clean up." That shocked them both. Yusuke was one to walk right over a mess. Hell, he was likely to step right in it, shrug, and walk away. "Hey it's not that surprising."_

_ Raised eyebrows greeted his declaration. "Okay, maybe it is, but c'mon" he pleaded not wanting his great plan to fall through._

_ "Okay," Koenma agreed. "We'll be there."_

_ "Splendid!" Botan giggled, clapping her hands in excitement. She could not wait for a chance to see everyone again._

_ "Well that's all that I wanted. Have your asses there," he ordered. "Or else." After the way he ended the dark Tournament, no one really wanted to know what 'or else' was._

_ "We'll be there," they assured him._

_ "As a couple?" the teen grinned slyly. Of course, there was another glance. "Wait, let me guess. You want to keep this little hook-up a secret?"_

_ "We want to be the ones to tell everyone," Koenma said._

_ "besides, we have to see how things work out," she added. Koenma knew just what she meant, but as usual, Yusuke was utterly clueless._

_ "What? You guys plannin' on breakin' up already?" he asked in genuine concern. He would hate for those two to break up. There were like the perfect couple and splitting them up would seem... wrong._

_ "Of course not!" the couple replied in an outraged unison. "We can't break up!"_

_ "Then why are you guys so fuckin' antsy about this?"_

_ "Yusuke, stop and think for a moment please," Botan fussed. "He's the prince and heir of Spirit World. I'm his nuimber one pilot of the River Styx."_

_ "Oooh, I get it. Class distinction. You think that Spirit World'll find out and be pissed about it."_

_ "Well, yes," Botan nodded. She was glad that he understood. Perhaps he would just drop it and let the two of them handle it._

_ "Koenma, why don't you man up and grow some balls. They're your subjects. Just tell 'em that you're dating Botan and if they don't like it then they can piss off." Which was basically the young man's answer to every and anything._

_ "I'd love to and definitely would, if it would only effect me."_

_ "So, what the hell are you going to do?" Yusuke demanded. He could be quite the drill seargent when he wanted to be. And though he would never admit it, he was a hopeless romantic and really wanted his friends' relationship to work out. Part of this was due to the fact that he believed that if their relationship could work out, then so could his._

_ "We'll take it slow and reveal the truth at the right time," Botan said. "I'm sure that it will be soon."_

_ Yusuke nodded. After all, it was really none of his business. "But we have to ask that you keep this a secret," Koenma added._

_ Once again, the teen nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I got it. Be quiet and all that crap."_

_ "And who said that you couldn't understand simple concepts?" the prince asked sarcastically._

_ The three went back and forth with insults and relatively kind conversation. It probably would have kept on going, but Yusuke happened to glance up at the clock on the wall. "Whoa, it's getting pretty late. I guess that I should be getting ready to go home. Mom's actually supposed to cook tonight. Nothin' I love more than overcooked, under tasteful Ramen. Yum."_

_ The couple protested, but were secretly relieved. They needed some real alone time. Yes, they knew each other quite well, but just as friends and potential crushes. It was finally time for them to get to know each other as... more than that._

_ "Yeah, yeah. Well have fun kids. I'm out of here," Urameshi announced. Everyone chuckled at that. Yusuke used that as an opprotunity to walk over to the door. "Bye," he waved. "And don't worry, your secret's safe with me." And he shut the door with a cheeky grin plastered on his face. That was Yusuke for you. He always has to have the last word._

**BACK TO PRESENT:**

"Yeah, I caught 'em making out on the desk," Yusuke chuckled at the memory of the office. All of the papers were everywhere and Botan with her hair down and clothes disarrayed. Not to mention Koemna.

"Whoa, he had the pacifier in his mouth the whole time?" Kuwabara asked curiously. To be honest, he was the only person surprised by the news. Lately, the only thing that he could see was a beautiful ice maiden. Not that he would have seen it before her either.

"Yeah. He managed to suck her face with the stupid thing still in his mouth." Urameshi informed everyone. Sure, he had been predictable and blabbed the secret, but this was turning out to be very, very entertaining.

Kuwabara turned away from his friend to face Koenma and Botan. "How'd ya' do that?"

"Talent," the prince grinned, squeezing his love's hand. Needless to say, he was rather cocky. Having a girlfriend like Botan would do that to a girl.

"Show off," Botan replied, gently slapping his knee. He was so... funny. Not to mention cute.

"Hey! That still doesn't explain _**how**_ you did it!" Kuwabara complained.

"Oh shut up, Kazuma. Just because you've never kissed a girl doesn't mean that you have to invade their personal space," Shizuru said in her usual brisk, almost angry tone. Though at this point one would definitely say that she was angry.

"Haha. You've never kissed a girl?" Yusuke demanded, leaning over from laughter.

"Maybe not. But you haven't either, Urameshi so don't pretend like you have!"

"Hello. How do you think I got back from the dead? Walked?"

"Nuh-uh. Keiko kissed you. S'not the same thing," the burly red head pouted. As far as he was concerned, it really wasn't the same thing. Neither of them had ever kissed anyone, but it's not like it mattered.

"One more kiss than you've had," Urameshi replied, sticking his tounge out at his old friend. Most people would have thought that it was childish. But the people on team Urameshi were used to the antics of those two.

"Why I oughta," Kuwabara threatened, and the two started wrestling in their usual way.

"Cut it out, you two. This is supposed to be a party," Shizuru said, smoking on a cigarette.

The two boys finally pulled apart. Kuwabara was sporting several lumps, bruises, and an eye that was already darkening. Yusuke, on the other hand, was completely unscathed. Not a hair on his gelled head was out of place. It was to be expected of the champion who defeated Toguro. "Ha, I win agian!" Yusuke cheered with a grin.

"Grr," the red-head growled. "Those were some luck shots. I'll get you the next time."

"Yeah sure," Urameshi rolled his eyes. Like he hadn't heard that a million times over the years. "Like you haven't been saying that since the day that we met." And this began yet another argument between the two teens to everyone's amusement.

"Do they ever stop?" Botan asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Even death wouldn't stop those two," Shizuru shrugged. She was used to the constant fighting. It was the way that they shoed that they were brothers. And it also kept her little bro out of her hair. A win-win situation.

"True," Koenma muttered. He was glad that they were still alive. They would be a constant pain in his butt for all of eternity.

Yukina giggled as the Hiei muttered, "Idiot." Up until now, the siblings had been talking quietly to themselves, but even they could not continue during the loud arguing.

"Hey, I'm not an idiot," Kuwabara and Yusuke screamed in unison.

"Wouldn't be so sure about that," the detective grinned. He had been unable to resist the opprotunity to throw in a good jab.

"You little punk!" the larger man shouted, launching himself at his smaller friend. This led to yet another fight. There's only so much fighting that one can take, so everyone just ignored them this time.

Shizuru was sitting next to Keiko and talking to her about 'important girl stuff'. Needless to say, Keiko was very red the entire time.

Koenma and Botan were just holding each other close. The only thing that mattered was that they were there. Together.

The new-found siblings were still in place on the couch. Yukina was sitting with her head on her brother's muscular shoulder. He had an arm around her and waas talking softly with her. Yukina could not hide how happy she was. She had finally found her big brother. He wasn't like she had imagined. No, he was better. Now, she was as happy as she could be.

Hiei felt the same way. This whole time, he was worried about how she would react. But she had been... happy. She loved him unconditionally. The small fire demon looked around and wondered what he had done to deserve such a loving and kind sister and such great friends.

Then there was Genkai. She almost didn't notice the red-headed demon sit next to her at the kitchen counter. "They're like your children aren't they?"

Genkai turned to stare into the unfathomable green eyes of the spirit fox. "I'll never admit that I said this," she warned, her eyes softening in a rare moment of emotion. "But you all are."

Kurama chuckled. "Though some of us are older than you are." It was hard to imagine by looking at the two of them. But the fox was indeed older than the woman that was next to him.

"Perhaps," she admitted. "But you're still in the guise of one of the children."

"Perhaps. But I think we both know that I am not a child in any stretch of the imagination."

"Point made," she acknowledged.

"Interesting, isn't it?" he asked, completely changing the subject.

"What's interesting?" She had to ask. The old master was known for her curiousity and this time was no different.

"Despite the troubles of the last few months, most of us still seemed to have found our 'happy endings'. At least for the moment."

"Yes, at the moment. We'll see how long that lasts. Though the real question is: what about you?"

"What about me?" the fox asked in confusion.

"Almost everyone has their 'happy ending'. Except for you. You're no better off," she replied, her eyes darkening. Obviously she was thinking of more than just him and his life.

"True. I still haven't been able to replicate or master my change into Youko Kurama. But for the moment, I have everything that I need," he shrugged.

"Friends?" she scoffed. She had always thought that he would be more realistic. That he would know better. She didn't think that she was wrong, but maybe she was.

"Yes friends. If I have learned anythingg from the Dark Tournament, it was that friends are nothing if not irreplaceably valuable."

"I guess you are the smart one after all," the old lady smiled, while lighting another cigarette. She lit it and puffed gently. Most people would have said that it was unhealthy for such an old woman to smoke. But, she would say that she had lived a full life so she could do whatever she wanted to do and to go fuck off. "The dimwit could learn something from you."

"I think I can also learn a lot from him. But that brings us back to a second question. What about you?" he wondered.

Genkai sighed. She had expected that he would ask this question, but shill she had no real answer. "Maybe it's enough for a poor, old woman to see everyone else's happiness."

Kurama chuckled a bit to himself. "Somehow, I doubt that. We all need a bit of our personal joy now and again."

"That doesn't ensure that we'll get it, Kid," she replied dryly. If she knew anything, it was that. If she had had her happy ending then Toguro would have never became a demon. They would have gotten married, had kids, and lived the life of normal humans.

"Of course not. There are no assurances in life." Kurama was also no stranger to this concept. Here he was, the great Youko Kurama, trapped in the body of a human. And living a normal life. Who would have thought.

"Then, what makes it worth while?" she askked, but she was sure that she already knew w. That she had known it for years since her first times with Toguro.

"It's all relative. For some people, it's money. For others it's the hope of something after this life."

"Point made," Genkai nodded. She had come into contact with both types of people, but couldn't say that she identified with either type. "What is it for us?"

"For us, it's them. The people that we fight for and most importantly each other."

"Hmm," the old woman murmered reflectively. "Perhaps dealing with you jackasses _**is**_ worth it."

Kurama chuckled into his hand. Ah, these people certainly had a way about them. In fact, that was what he admired the most about them. Their ability to be...themselves. After the life that he hadlived... that ability was precious and cherished above all others.

The young man and the old lady said back and watched the fire works. Eventually, the two boys ran out of arguements and got tired of fighting. Now, they were sitting, talking, and grinning together. Just as was to be expected.

The party quickly began again afger that. There was a lot of reminiscing about things from Yusuke's first case till now. Some were funny, others were sad, and most were exciting.

After everyone was done making fun of each other, they decided to do something else. No one was quite sure what that 'something else' was. Yusuke suggested a movie again, and the others readily agreed.

They finally decided to just watch a movie. The group ended up having the age-old arguement about what to watch. The girls wanted romance and the boys wanted action. They couldn't agree with the movie choice, but no one was ready to go home yet. Eventually, they were able to compromise.

They ended up watching two movies. And of course, the girls got their way and went first. Their movie was a typical romance, but the end had a tear-jerking twist. At the end, everyone was sobbing. Though they would deny it later, even Yusuke and Kuwabara teared up a little (one more than the other), but quickly wiped them away before they could be seen by the others.

The guys' movie was much more... action-packed. The whole thing seemed to be explosions, fights, and sex. So basically the guys (Yusuke and Kuwabara) were enthralled by it. In their minds, this was how life _**should**_ be. Though their own adventures were at least twice as exciting.

Fortunately, for the girls' sakes, it finally ended in a blaze of guns.

"About time," Botan sighed. It was one of the dumbest movies that she had ever seen.

"Not your type of movie?" Koenma whispered into her ears.

"Not exactly. I prefer the first one."

"You would," he smiled. "You're such a hopeless romantic." And so it went on in a loving and teasing way. This was just how they flirted. With tons of compliments and other kin words.

At this point, the party was finally winding down. "It's getting late," Keiko announced. No ne had noticed taht it was almost four in the morning. "We should go."

Yusuke did not want to see them go. He really didn't, but he knew that Keiko would never have the girls staying in his house like that. "Aww, you're in that big of a hurry to leave me, Keiko?" Yusuke joked. Though perhaps some part of him was serious.

"Oh Yusuke," she said, slapping him gently on the arm.

Genkai jumped off of the counter, ready to leave the small apartment. It had been quite a night and she wasn't as young as she used to be. "Good-bye, Dimwit. Don't do anything too stupid while I'm gone," she waved withought turning around.

"Hey wait!" the detective shouted. "Where the hell are you going?"

The old lady turned to face her pupil, her deep brown eyes shining. "I'm going to bed. An old woman like me needs her beauty rest."

"It'd take a lot of rest to make her beautiful again," he muttered, which earned him another slap from his loving friend, Keiko.

"Someone should go with her," Keiko protested.

"Why?" Kuwabara asked in confusion. He had no idea why anyone would think that Genkai needed an escort anywhere.

"It's not safe to be out this late alone," she explained.

Urameshi burst out laughing. "Yeah, right. Grandma could take out anyone who was stupid enough to mess with her."

"I know that, but I can't let her walk to my house alone," she replied, standing on her toes and planting a kiss on Yusuke's cheek. "Bye Yusuke!" And she ran out of the door to catch up to the 'helpless' older woman.

"Duh. Duh-duh," Yusuke stuttered, rubbing the spot on his cheek where her lips had been.

"He _**can**_ become even more unintelligible," Hiei chuckled from the couch.

"Isn't he like this all of the time?" Koenma asked.

"Oh, don't be mean," Botan giggled. She loved his sharp wit. "We should probably be leaving too."

"You two're going too?" Kazuma asked. Everyone was leaving and he was sort of tired, so it was fine with him.

"We should," the prince shrugged, getting to his feet and pulling Botan up as well.

"Hey toddler! I thought that you were spending the night with us," Yusuke said, having suddenly regained the use of his voice box.

Koenma rolled his eyes. Did he really have to explain himself? In Spirit World, he was the authority, but here he was the minority. "I'm walking Botan to Keiko's. I'll be back later."

"Couldn't Shizuru just walk her over?" Kuwabara asked. Sometimes he could be so oblivious. Needless to say, this was one of those times.

However, his sister wasted no time as she slapped the back of his head. "Idiot. Maybe she doesn't want to walk with me."

"Why wouldn't she? You're so... pretty, sis," he ground out from between his teeth. Ugh, he was going to have to scrub his mout hout for ever saying that out loud. Yuck.

"You need to get laid," she said much to Kuwabara's chagrin and Urameshi's amusement. In fact, he was so entertained that he fell over unto his knees. It had to be illegal to laugh that one.

"Shizuruuuu!" the burly man shrieked. He could not believe that she said that. Out loud. In front of the love of his life. That had to be equal to torture.

"Hey, it's true. Maybe if you had a nice lay, then you'd understand why he may want to be alone with Botan," she shrugged. "I can't help it if you need some help."

By this time, Kazuma Kuwabara was crimson. "I don't need help."

"No, you just need a lay," Shizuru shrugged. "And soon."

"Never mind. They want to be alone. I get it," he said, just hoping that it would be enough to get her to be silent.

Thankfully, it was. "Hmm," Shizuru muttered.

Koenma and Botan glanced at each other and held in a chuckle. "On that note, perhaps we should be going," Koenma repeated, gently pulling Botan to the door. "I'll see you guys later."

"Good-bye everyone," Botan waved cheerily.

"Don't wait up," he waved, closing the door with a thud and a cheeky grin.

"Gross," Yusuke and Kuwabara shuddered in unison. It was so gross for them to even think of those two together.

"I hope they get out of earshot before they go at it," the detective winced at the very thought. There had better not be any white stuff anywhere near his house in the morning.

"Yeah man. It's like thinkin' about your parents," Kazuma frowned. He was trying to cut off the mental images that he got. He remembered the first time that he had ever seen his parents. Ugh, it was disgusting, and something that would forever taint his mind.

"Been there and seen that. Trust me, there's nothing worse than a drunk guy and your equally drunk mom workin' it on your kitchen table where you eat your cereal," he shrugged like hehad been talking about the price of a pair of shoes while everyone else looked at him strangely. For some reason, it was always easy to forget the kind of hell that he grew up in.

The boy was so... upbeat. Most people would have taken a negative, Hiei point of view, but not Yusuke. Goodness knows that he had caught his mom and her boyfriends more times than he could even countt, but he _**did not **_any pity for that. Or for anything.

"Okay, you win," Kazuma grunted. Yeah, he was definitely going to clean his mough out tonight. Maybe even his brain too.

"I'm done," Shizuru announced, grabbing another beer from the fridge. "I'm going home."

"You're not headin' over to Keiko's?" Urameshi asked.

"Yeah, Lover Boy. I'm going _**after**_ I pick up some more cigarettes and maybe a six-pack."

"Have fun," the detective cheered. "And bring me a few packs of smokes tomorrow."

"No way, kid. I'm not going to make Keiko mad at me," she shuddered. Keiko may be small, but she was definitely vicious.

"Thought I'd try," the incorrigible teen shrugged. And he did have to try, but he would not do anything to anger Keiko.

"Hey red!" She called. "You leaving or staying?" The two had struck up a friendship of sorts after the tournament. Strangely enough, they actually did make pretty good friends.

"I think I'll stay a bit longer. Thank you though," Kurama replied with a slight smile.

"Kay then. See you jackasses later," she waved.

Kuwabara went to the door. "Bye,sis. Be careful." And then he shut the door. "And don't let the door hit you on the way out."

"Very ballsy," Yusuke said, unbuttoning his green school shirt. "Especiallyt after she left. That takes a real man."

"Shut up. You wouldn't have said anything either," Kazuma defended himself.

Yusuke shrugged. He had a point. The detective would never talk to Shizuru like that. Not unless he wanted her to try and rearrange his face.

The two continued talking for about ten minutes when Kurama spoke. "Well, I suppose that I should be on my way. Mother will be worried," the fox said.

"Mama's boy," Urameshi grinned. "Go on home."

Kurama rolled his massive green eyes. Yusuke always said that he was a 'mama's boy'. Though by many accounts, he is. The woman had raised him and nurtured him for years. He would give anything, including his life for her.

"Good-bye, Yusuke, Kuwabara," he waved jauntily. 

"See ya' Kurama," the two chorused.

Kurama had sis his good-bye to only two of his friends. There was still two others that he needed to speak to. "Yukina. I apologize for not coming over early. I just wnated to relay my congratulations."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Kurama," she smiled, her red eyes glinting with kindness and joy.

"Now, now. No need for the sir," the fox chuckled merrily. He was so happy. Things had went just as he had expected and no one had died. Yay!

"My, my. Aren't we charming tonight?" Hiei sniffed scornfully. Of course, for him that was the only way to sniff.

"Unlike some people, I prefer a bit of charm and finesse to the... cruder aspects," the red-head countered.

"Hn," he grunted.

Kurama chuckled to himself. His small friend could be so... elo quent. "Where are you staying for the night?"

Now, Hiei was confronted with a problem. He and Yukina had agreed to spent he night together to learn more about each other. However, neither had thought about where they would stay.

Genkai was out,and Yukina would be aversed to staying there withough her permission. Hiei had no wish to stay at Keiko's withthe other females. And his own homw was, well... a tree. He would _**not**_ allow his sister to sleep in a tree. Not to mention the fact that he'd rather boil his head than beg a favor from either the detective or the oaf.

"You're welcome to come to my home," Kurama offered.

"And what about the human woman?" the fire demon replied, hoping that it would not be a problem. There was no one that he would rather owe something to. Though to be honest, he would prefer to owe someone.

"My mother won't mind. For some reason, she has taken a liking to you," he smiled. He knew that his mother would like his friends not matter what. She was just glad that he had some. But she really had taken up some special affection for Hiei. Which he appreciated, because that was his closest friend.

Hiei blushed gently. Lately, he had been spending more time at the fox's house and of course his mother was usually there. As much as he hates to admit it, the human woman had grown on him. She was... fairly tolerable.

"That would be wonderful, Kurama," the ice maiden beamed. She was happy. Now, she could spend her night with her new-found brother. It was great.

"Splendid. I'll go home no, and tell mother to expect guests."

"We'll be over soon," Hiei said.

"I'll see you then," he waved and left the apartment.

"I suppose we should be getting ready to leave," Yukina said, pushing some of her long, blue hair back.

"Yes, I suppose so," her brother agreed, getting to his feet and pulling her up gently.

"Bye Yukina," Yusuke grinned from the counter. He was pretty glad that this had worked out. At least Hiei didn't end up killing Kuwabara.

"Bye Yusuke, Kuwabara," she smiled in a way that lit up the entire room.

And also in a way that brought Kuwabara to attention. He ran and dropped to his knees in front of her. "Oh my love. Until I see you again, you'll be in my thoughts." And he kissed her hands.

"That's so sweet, Kuwabara," she grinned. The girl was so oblivious to the fact that he liked her as more than a friend. She was sure that he was just this nice to everyone. Everyone except for Yusuke and her brother, that is."I'll see you soon."

He released her hands with a dopey grin on his face. It was more like she had kissed him than just smiled at him. Though in his mind, sometimes, small details like that got left out.

"See ya', Hiei," Yusuke nodded.

"Detective, the small demon nodded stiffly. "Oaf." And that time he left off the nod. He only gave him a slight glance.

As much as Kuwabara hated it, he had to be mice to the little jerk. There was not way that he could make his one true love angry or hurt her. Even when it came ot her brother. Especially when it came to her brother. "Bye Shorty."

The two left the apartment, walking closely with identical smiles. About fifteen minutes later, they were walking into Kurama's living room.

"Hello," the fox waved from where he was sitting up on the couch. "Glad that you two made it safely."

"Because two powerful demons couldn't make it here without danger from the humans? Ha, not likely," the fire demon chuckled somewhat dryly.

"I was just making polite conversation. Perhaps you've heard of it."

"Hn."

Kurama rolled his eyes, knowing that he was not going to get a better answer. "Mother's sorry, but she was tired and went to bed. However, she is glad that you two came to visit and hopes that you enjoy your stay. If you'll follow mw, then I'll show you to your rooms." And without fruther ado, he took off down the hall with the new-found siblings walking along behind him.

The red-head stopped at a plain wood door. "Yukina, this is the guest room. It's right next door to my mother's room and right across the hall from me. I hope that you find it comfortable."

Yukina glanced around, taking in the shiny wood floors, the deep painted walls and the large bed that dominated the center of the room. "Of course, thank you, Kurama."

"It's nothing," he smiled. It was just his home. Though the house was rather nice. "Hiei, this room is taken, so I suppose that you have to take up your usual cot in my room."

Hiei nodded. He had both expected and perferred it. He knew that it would be easy for the two of them to protect each other if necessary. Not that he expected an attackt, but he preferred to be prepared. "Fine. I'll be in soon." The fox nodded and went across the hall into his room, and closing the door behind him.

"This has been quite a day," Yukina smiled. "My search is finally over. And I couldn't have a better brother. I love you."

"I completely agree, little sister," Hiei smiled slightly. "Sleep well, Yukina."

"Same to you, Hiei," she replied and kissed him on his cheek. "See you in the morning." And she padded barefoot over to the bad and climbed in.

He waved awkwardly and closed the door as he exited. Then he made his way into Kurama's room.

"That went well," Kurama grinned from his bed where he was reading a book.

"It was... better than I had expected," the fire demon admitted. He had expected nothing and gotten a family. How could things get any better for him?

"Hmm, it went exactly as I had expected," the fox chuckled. He was used to being right, and this just made him feel even better.

"Yes, yes. We've all established that you're always right. Now don't you have some wound to lick or something."

"No, of course not." he grinned, relaxing on the bed.

"You will if you keep annoying me." Hiei and Kurama both knew that this was just posturing. Hiei wouldn't and couldn't hurt the fox if he tried. Not that he would ever try to do something like that. Unless his life really came down to it.

"You couldn't hurt me."

`"Don't try me, fox. It would take me less that a second to draw my sword and another five to run you through," Hiei threatened.

"Oh, I'm quite sure that you _**could**_, but I'm saying that you _**wouldn't**_," Kurama grinned. This was like a game of chess, and he had just taken Hiei's queen.

"Oh, go to sleep you contemptable, fox before I really do decide to draw my sword." Kurama grinned. Check and mate. Just like chess, he had just taken his king.

"Good-night, Hiei," the red-head said laying down and covering himself up.

Hiei quickly stripped down to nothing but his black boxers. He laid down on the cot, with the sword next to him. He was never very far from the blade. It was, for lack of a better word, his safety blanket.

Kurama's breathing grew deeper and steadier as he fell asleep. Hiei, on the other hand, found that sleep was not willing to come to him.

So instead, he laid there and thought about the events of the last few hours. He had finally been forced to come clean about his sister. It was all out there, and she hadn't rejected him. No, she accepted and even... loved him. What more in life could he ask for?

Now, he no longer felt so... alone. He had friends and a sister. As soon as he realized this, a warmth stole over him. A warth that he was not familiar with and had never experienced before. It was better than the high of a kill. It was ... security. It was...love.

That warm feeling was the thing that lulled the little demon towards rest. "All's well that ends well," he murmered and shut his red eyes as tthe black embrace of slumber pulled him under and his mind turned to happy dreams of what was to come.

_**The End**_

**A/n:**

**Whoo-hoo! My second Yu yu Hakusho fanfiction! I hope that it was good. I hope you guys enjoyed it. **

**Okay, so the flashback is from my story 'The Prince and the Pilot'. You guys need to read it. Check it out, and keep looking for my next updates..**

**Keep reading and I'll keep writing. Oh and remember to review. Flames are welcome. They're what keep me warm and toasty at night. ;) .**

_**Remember: Reviews = happy camper. Happy camper = quicker updates. Quicker updates = you reading more. It's a cycle. Keep it going!**_

**Yours truly, madly, and deeply,**

**Einstinette**


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